Letters: What to do with garbage?

If we cannot use plastic bags for our non-recyclables because they are non-biodegradable, and in order not to deplete the forests we should not use paper bags, what are we supposed to put our kitchen garbage in?

Are we supposed to empty all our loose potato peelings, coffee grounds, etc. into outside containers so that they can be blown all over the neighborhood when the bins are emptied?

When I asked this question at Save Mart, the specialist said "Let me know when you find out," and at the Grove Market, they said "Contact the government." I got a laugh and a shrug at Nob Hill.

Am I missing something or is there no obvious answer?

Mariana Brook

Pacific Grove

Gun laws certainly will deter crime

The simplistic idea by some people that gun laws won't deter gun crimes is simply wrong, both in logic and in fact.

How could anyone argue that background checks and stricter laws on what kind of guns that can be marketed to the general public would have no effect on the number of gun crimes committed?

Granted, this wouldn't get rid of all gun crimes, just like the age limit for alcohol use doesn't get rid of all underage drinking and speed enforcement doesn't keep all motorists under the speed limit.

But it would put pressure on the tendency of some human beings using firearms to take the lives of other human beings.

The idea that there would be fewer gun deaths if more people had guns is ludicrous. There are plenty of conflicts that take place in society each day.

It seems obvious to me that more guns in the hands of more people would mean that what was once a fist fight would become a gun fight and for every case of a person using a firearm to defend him or herself there would be 100 additional acts of murder.

Daniel DeCamp

Seaside

AARP threatens nation's future health

The bipartisan congressional vote to avert the "fiscal cliff" by allowing both payroll taxes and high-bracket income tax rates to rise appears to have neutralized Grover Norquists's Taxpayer Protection Pledge, one of the two powerful forces that have heretofore stalled every rational approach to reining in our unsustainable national deficit.

Our attention should now turn to the other organization whose lobbying efforts pose an equally serious threat to the nation's future health: American Association of Retired Persons.

As David Brooks noted in a recent column, the Urban Institute calculates the average Medicare couple pays $109,000 into the program and takes out $343,000 in benefits — effectively borrowing $234,000 from their children and grandchildren. (New York Times, Jan. 1, 2013).

It is difficult to imagine a more irresponsible arrangement — ethically and practically — yet AARP's propaganda has persuaded its members that any effort to correct this inter-generational injustice and improve the program's long-term solvency would strip them of benefits they have "earned."

Any member of Congress or candidate who dares to entertain even the possibility of means-testing the program is guaranteed AARP's condemnation and a well-financed challenge at the polls.

Robert Montgomery

Pebble Beach

Clinton bashers need to apologize

Let me get this straight. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is hospitalized with a blood clot in her brain and the right-wing media, led by shameless Faux News, accuses her of having "Benghazi fever."

Clinton, who has traveled to over 100 countries to promote diplomacy and the United States as a peace-loving nation, is skewered by those who would wrap themselves in the American flag, scoundrels that they are.

Shameless. No other word for it. Do we need to see the MRI along with President Obama's birth certificate? Where is the public outcry? When can we expect a public apology to someone who has served her country far and above the likes of Charles Krauthammer and Bill O'Reilly?

Such a course would probably mention The Linguistic Atlas of New England, first published by the American Council of Learned Societies in 1939, or one of the similar volumes covering dialects of other regions.

In short, an introductory course would reveal that our pronunciation of English words largely depends on where we lived when we first learned those words.

Martha Herzog

Pacific Grove

Labyrinth of Hope is always open

Congratulations to all who contributed to another terrific First Night Monterey!

Revelers who missed the "Labyrinth of Hope," a popular feature of past First Nights created by Thea Sager and described in The Herald on Monday, may want to make the quick drive to Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula at 4590 Carmel Valley Road in Carmel to walk the outdoor labyrinth on its grounds.

The Community Labyrinth was created by a community partnership of local churches and organizations and completed in 2002. During its five-year construction, walks were held indoors on a portable canvas labyrinth.

Patterned after the labyrinth laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France about 1220 AD and painstakingly hand-painted by local poet and artist Don Mathews, it is always available, wheelchair accessible and free to the public. For information, see www.ccmp.org

Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula is celebrating its 50th anniversary throughout the year with a variety of events and services — and, of course, the labyrinth is open every day. Come walk its path and perhaps, as First Night participants have, meditate with hope on what may unfold in this new year.